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GRAYSON CO., TEXAS -- For 12 years, Texomans have been hearing about the Preston Harbour Development, also know as the Schuler Development, a high class community to be built on Lake Texoma.
As Allison Harris learned today, the long-awaited development is inching closer to a construction date.
Chalk it up as a win for Schuler Development today -- county commissioners agreed to help ease the financial burden on the developers, making them one step closer to the day they can break ground on what's expected to be a first class community.
"All those in favor say I, those opposed say no. The I's have it, the motion is carried," Grayson Co. Judge Drue Bynum said.
With that, the 3,000 acre Preston Harbour Development on Lake Texoma is a step closer to fruition.
Commissioners agreed to go in on a TIRZ, a tax increment reinvestment zone, with the city of Denison to help reimburse the developer over time.
"Today really was the first step in finalizing those agreements with the county going in with us on the creation of the TIRZ," Denison Mayor Jared Johnson said.
Schuler Development, who's behind the initiative, is expected to build 17 million dollars in infrastructure, in the form of restaurants, shops and amenities. Any of that money that brings growth can be reimbursed.
"A portion of the county and the city's tax rate, which in this case is 32 percent, will then be reimbursed to the developer over time for cost that he actually incurs," Johnson said.
Johnson says the development is expected to build about 10,000 homes, something he says citizens of today will benefit from in the future.
"Lots of homes, high end retail, a golf course perhaps," Johnson said.
"We appreciate your business," businessman Dave Parkey said.
Parkey runs an Exxon near the development and has been following the news about it for years.
"To add 8 or 10 thousand people to our population base would really be a big asset to everybody in town. We're all going to get a piece of that pie, I mean, everybody is going to reap the benefits from that," Parkey said.
Schuler Development released this statement, "We've had a terrific working relationship for many years and we anticipate a very bright future."
Johnson says now, they just have some more legal work to complete until they can officially announce this new development and hopefully begin construction, and that could happen in just a matter of months.
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